Anchorage device for cables



April 12, 1966 F. MARTIN ANCHORAGE DEVICE FOR CABLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 18, 1962 INYENTQR FRANK MARTIN \IJJson, cola, GRiNJls WnTs N ATTOQNEYQ April 12, 1966 F. MARTIN 3,245,127

ANCHORAGE DEVICE FOR CABLES FiledJune 18, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W v 064a.

Invau-roa FRANK MAE- MM? WWW AT-roauav April 12, 1966 F. MARTIN 3,

ANCHORAGE DEVICE FOR CABLES Filed June 18, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR FRANK MARn ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,245,127 ANCHORAGE DEVICE FOR CABLES Frank Martin, Heston, England, assignor to Fairey Engineering Limited, Heston, England, a company of Great Britain Filed June 18, 1962, Ser. No. 203,147 Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 19, 1961, 22,102/ 61 7 Claims. (Cl. 24-123) This invention relates to guided missiles of the type propelled by a rocket motor and controlled in flight by electrical signals transmitted to the missile from a ground control station through electric leads trailed behind the missile. The missile carries a supply of a sufficient length of electrical cable wound on a suitable dispenser in the missile body, therear end of the cable being anchored near the ground control station and the cable being progressively drawn out of the missile dispenser by the forward movement of the missile, so that the length of trailing cable left behind the missile in flight is substantially stationary in the air and does not hinder the directional control of the missile.

The present invention is concerned with an improved form of anchorage for anchoring the rear end of the electric cable to the ground near the control station, so as to hold the cable against the forward movement of the missile and to provide the necessary tension in the cable to draw it out of the dispenser as required during the flight of the missile. It is not satisfactory simply to provide soldered joints between the ends of the cable strands and the terminals of the ground control apparatus and to anchor the latter to the ground, since such soldered joints would be unreliable and would probably break under the strain.

According to the present invention an anchorage for the cable of a missile of the type specified comprises a bollard around which several complete turns of the cable are made and secured in position, for example by being embedded in a solidified plastics material, and means for anchoring the bollard securely to the ground.

Preferably a short length of the run of the cable leaving the bollard and extending towards the missile is embedded in a block of solidified resilient plastics material, for example synthetic rubber, which block is bonded to the bollard.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways, but two specific embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a side view of a bollard for anchoring the control cable of a guided missile of the type specified,

FIGURE 2 is an edge view of the bollard as seen in the direction of the arrow II of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 2a is an enlarged sectional view of part of the bollard of FIGURES 1 and 2 showing the cable embedded in synthetic resin filling the groove in the bollard,

FIGURES 3 and 4 are sectional plan and side views of a modified embodiment of bollard, and

FIGURE 4a is an enlarged sectional view of part of the bollard of FIGURES 3 and 4 showing the cable embedded in synthetic resin filling the groove of the bollard.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2, the bollard comprises a rigid ring of synthetic resin formed with a circumferential groove 11 around which several complete turns of the four-strand cable 12 are wound. The unsleeved but paper-insulated turns of the cable 12 are embedded in synthetic resin in the groove 11 to hold them securely in place, as shown in detail in FIGURE 2a. The bollard ring 10 is formed with two integral extension lugs 13 and 14 protruding generally in the plane of one flat side of the ring 10. One lug 14 is formed with an 3,245,127 Patented Apr. 12, 1966 aperture 15 by means of which the bollard can be anchored to the ground, for example by a stout screw or rivet passed through the aperture and secured to a stake driven into the ground. The other lug 13 comprises a support for an elongated flexible finger 16 moulded from Thiokol synthetic rubber, in which finger about two inches of the run of the cable 12 coming off the bollard and extending towards the missile is embedded. The Thiokol finger 16 is bonded to the lug 13 and to the circumference of the bollard ring 10, the lug 13 being formed with a pair of small apertures 17 into which the Thiokol material is moulded to improve the effectiveness of the bonded joint. The resilient Thiokol finger 16 serves to protect and support the run of flexible cable 12 where it meets the bollard ring 10 and to assist in preventing the cable 12 becoming dislodged from the circumferential groove 11 in the bollard ring in which it is embedded. About two feet of the run of cable 12 extruding from the finger 16 of the bollard ring 10 towards the missile is sleeved in a polyvinyl chloride tubing 18, this tubing 18 being also embedded in the resilient Thiokol finger 16 adjacent to the bollard. The other end of the cable 12, where it is led off the bollard ring 10 for connection to the ground control apparatus, is also sleeved for about two feet of its length with a polyvinyl chloride tubing 19 beyond which the four strands of the cable are separated out and are provided with individual sleevings 20A, 20B, 20C and 20D of polyvinyl chloride. The ends of the four strands are provided with terminal plugs 21A to 21D to facilitate their connection to the terminals of the ground control apparatus.

Thus, in use, the strain imposed on the cable 12 by the missile during launching and in flight is taken by the complete turns of the cable 12 passed around the bollard ring 10 and embedded in the groove 11 therein, the resilient finger 16 supporting the cable 12 where it leaves the bollard ring 10 and preventing the formation of a sharp bend in the cable as it follows the launching course of the missile. The other end of the cable 12 extending between the anchored bollard ring 10 and the ground control apparatus is not subjected to tension by the missile during launching and flight.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the bollard comprises a small cylindrical drum 30 formed with a circumferential groove 31 around which several complete turns of the unsleeved cable 12 are wound and embedded in synthetic resin as shown in detail in FIGURE 4a. The drum 30 is mounted within the bore of a short length of rigid metal tube 32 by means of an anchor pin 33 passing through opposed apertures 34 in the wall of the tube 32. The anchor pin 33 ex tends transversely through the tube 32 and passes through an axial bore in the drum 30, and thus mounts the drum securely within the bore of the tube with the axis of the drum extending transversely to the axis of the tube.

The tube 32 is formed with an elongated longitudinal slit 35 in its wall adjacent to the drum 30, the slit 35 extending midway between the two apertures 34 for the anchor pin. The rear end of the cable 12 coming off the groove 31 of the drum 30 is sleeved with a protecting polyvinyl chloride sleeve 36, and the sleeved cable passes freely through the slit 35 so that it can extend at a required angle of lead for connection to the ground control device. The other end of the cable 12, which extends forwardly towards the missile, is passed through a central passage 37 in an integral partition wall 38 formed in the metal tube 32 near its forward end, and is embedded in a Thiokol rubber plug 40 one end of which is inserted into the open forward end of the tube 32 and is bonded thereto and to the forwardly facing surface of the transverse partition wall 38 of the tube, i.e. the surface of the wall 38 which faces away from the drum 30. The Thiokol rubber plug 40 extends about two inches beyond the end of the rigid metal tube 32 to constitute a rigid supporting finger for the cable 12 extending from the drum 30 to the missile. The length of the .cable 12 emerging from the leading end of the Thiokol plug 40 is surrounded by a protecting sleeve 41 of polyvinyl chloride, whose rear end is embedded in the plug 40. The whole bollard comprising the drum 30 with its supporting metal tube 32 and Thiokol plug 40 is anchored by means of the anchor pin 33, which projects transversely from the metal tube 32 and can be secured to a stake driven into the ground or to some other anchorage.

Thus the strain applied to the cable 12 by the missible in flight is taken by the turns of the cable which are passed around the drum 30 within the metal tube 32, and the whole tube 32 can pivot to some extent about the anchor pin 33 to accommodate itself to the direction in which the cable is extended by the missile. However the resilient finger 40 projects the cable 12 against the formation of a sharp bend where it leaves the metal tube 32, should the missile be launched in a direction inclined at a substantial angle to the axis of the metal tube.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A length of trailing control cable for a cable-controlled missile, the cable having an outer covering of insulating material, in combination with an anchorage device secured firmly to the cable at an intermediate point of the length of the cable, the anchorage device comprising a rigid former member having a circular external winding surface whose diameter is larger than the crosssectional thickness of the cable and its covering, said winding surface being formed with a circumferential annular channel in which channel a winding of several complete turns of the covered cable wound around the bollard winding surface is located, and a filling of solidified plastics material with which the channel is filled and in which said winding of the covered cable is embedded, and .a resilient block of solidified resilient plastics material coupled to said bollard, in which block a short length of the covered cable extending from one end of the winding and leading to the missile is embedded, and in which the anchorage device is formed with a hole adapted to receive an anchorage pin for anchoring the device securely to the ground.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the .said block of solidified resilient plastics material is bonded to the former.

3. The combination claimed in claim 2 in which the former comprises a fiat disc in the circumferential edge of which the said channel is formed.

4. The combination claimed in claim 3 in which the flat disc is formed with an integral lug protruding from the edge of the disc in the general plane of the disc, to which lug the block of plastics material is bonded.

5. The combination claimed in claim 4 in which the fiat disc is formed with a second integral lug protruding from its edge in the general plane of the disc and in which the said hole is formed in the said second lug.

6. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the former comprises a cylindrical drum in the circumferential surface of which said channel is formed, the drum having an axial bore through which a securing pin extends, the securing pin also constituting said anchorage pm.

7. The combination claimed in claim 6 in which the anchorage device also includes an outer metal tube, said drum being mounted within the bore of said tube by means of said securing pin, the axis of the tube being at right angles to the axis of the drum, and the tube being formed with a longitudinal slit in one wall through which one run of the cable extends laterally to the axis of the tube, the other run of the cable leaving the tube through one end and being embedded in said resilient plastics block which is bonded to said end of the tube.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 585,707 7/1897 Schuredtmann 287-81 836,882 11/1906 Hoffman 24-123 1,720,272 7/ 1929 Harris 24-123 1,729,945 10/ 1929 Holm 28781 2,112,680 .3/ 1938 Sambleson 24-423 2,189,987 2/1940 Kellems 24123 2,354,280 7/ 1944 Russell 28781 2,533,064 12/1950 Streader 24-123 2,561,487 7/ 1951 Bailhe. 2,565,375 8/1951 Lake 24-123 2,945,457 7/1960 Avery et a1 24123 X FOREIGN PATENTS 237,397 2/ 1962 Australia.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner,

.SAMUEL KOREN, DONLEY J. STOCKING,

Examiners.

B. R. GAY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LENGTH OF TRAILING CONTROL CABLE FOR A CABLE-CONTROLLED MISSILE, THE CABLE HAVING AN OUTER COVERING OF INSULATING MATERIAL, IN COMBINATION WITH AN ANCHORAGE DEVICE SECURED FIRMLY TO THE CABLE AT AN INTERMEDIATE POINT OF THE LENGTH OF THE CABLE, THE ANCHORAGE DEVICE COMPRISING A RIGID FORMER MEMBER HAVING A CIRCULAR EXTERNAL WINDING SURFACE WHOSE DIAMETER IS LARGER THAN THE CROSSSECTIONAL THICKNESS OF THE CABLE AND ITS COVERING, SAID WINDING SURFACE BEING FORMED WITH A CIRCUMFERENTIAL ANNULAR CHANNEL IN WHICH A WINDING OF SEVERAL COMPLETE TURNS OF THE COVERED CABLE WOUND AROUND THE BOLLARD WINDING SURFACE IS LOCATED, AND A FILLING OF SOLIDIFIED PLAS- 